


cinnamon dusted french fries & golden strawberries

by gomi_nokami



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Demon Hunters, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternative Universe - Sky Pirates, Angst, Drabble Collection, Fluff, Friendship, Future Fic, HQ Timeskip, M/M, Romance, Slight kuroken, Soul Eater!AU, slight bokuaka, super powers!au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-17
Updated: 2015-11-09
Packaged: 2018-03-30 21:46:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 9,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3952939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gomi_nokami/pseuds/gomi_nokami
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of drabbles for the Tsukkiyama pair.  Everything from alternate universes, to future!verse, to moments in the anime, etc.  This is basically a fic dump of ideas.  Who knows, if one idea gets super popular, maybe I'll write a full fledged one-shot/multichapter for it.</p><p> </p><p>9.  <i>In which Tsukishima lives the high life, but never forgets that Yamaguchi is home.  Rockstar!AU</i><br/>10.  <i>In which Tsukishima must navigate the stars.  Sky Pirate!AU</i><br/>11.  <i>In which they're third years, and both Tsukishima and Yamaguchi celebrate a sweet victory.  A HQ Timeskip Fic.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. hide and seek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1\. _In which Yamaguchi uses his invisibility to flee, to disappear...and Tsukishima is his shield._

“Hey, what’s wrong with your face, freshie?”  A voice called from across the yard.  Yamaguchi jumped, eyes glistening before seemingly vanishing.  His gaze dropped to the ground, scuffing the toe of his shoe against the dirt.  He failed to notice the jeers and snickers abruptly getting cut off, the world around him warping slightly as if being viewed through a strange piece of glass.  An arm wrapped around his waist, tugging him closer.

 

With another startled jump, Yamaguchi lifted his gaze from the seemingly interesting ground up into eyes like candlelight and champagne.  Like honey that’d been poured into tea.  Yamaguchi breathed in sharply, his own dark eyes widening as Tsukishima leaned down to press a soft kiss against his temple.

 

“Pathetic,” He murmured, lips gliding on his skin, ghosting over freckles and acne scars.  Yamaguchi’s flush grows deeper, darker.  He ducked down, eyes closing briefly, but he steeled himself, nodding along with Tsukishima’s comment.

  
“Yeah.  They are.”


	2. a rose by any other name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 2\. _In which Tsukishima calls Yamaguchi different things, but one stands out most of all._

The first time they met, Tsukishima had called him pathetic.  Yamaguchi doesn't know why that made the other boy so attractive to him, rather than repel him, but he's glad for his six year old self's questionable judge of character.  Perhaps it had been desperation, he muses one day years later, that had made him latch onto the first person who told those bullies off.  They hit off almost immediately, but not without a rocky start.  
  
But then Yamaguchi doesn't get called anything else by Tsukishima for a long time.  They’re in their first year of high school, and Yamaguchi wonders if Tsukishima has any other opinion of him.  His friend?  Yes, of course.  They were best friends.  Tsukishima also called him Yamaguchi, or Tadashi if he was being serious, but otherwise it's said with a friendly tone.  So the first time Tsukishima called him "cool," Yamaguchi is ecstatic.  It was the first time he’d heard of the usually apathetic teen refer to him as anything else but his name.  
  
Now, they're laying in Tsukishima's room, just weeks away from graduating.  Tsukishima - no, it's Kei now - is hovering over him, lips pressed to his neck and peppering kisses along the sensitive skin.  Yamaguchi has his hands in the other's hair, letting out soft gasps the more Kei's lips find exposed skin.  It's now that he feels Kei's lips moving, not just in kisses, but whispering something.  
  
It's only when his gasping eases that he hears what Kei is murmuring against his skin, arms on either side of his head, almost cradling him.  
  
"Beautiful."  



	3. oiled machine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 3\. _In which there'd always been a kink, but no words were needed to fix it._

There had always been a kink in their system, and although they didn't play supporting positions to each other on the team, it was evident elsewhere.  They were joined at the hip, and where one was, the other was never too far away.  They always arrived together and left together - so close that there had been a rumor they lived together that spread through the team for a brief period during their second year.  It was an easy thing they had, whatever it was, because everyone swore up and down that they definitely weren't friends, but no one was sure whether or not they were lovers.  They simply had come to understand each other, sending each other glances that seemed to hold entire conversations.

 

But up until now, in their third and last year of high school, there had always been a slight falter in their relationship.  A strange misstep, where one felt the other was always out of reach from the other.

 

In their first year, Yamaguchi had fretted endlessly about being too far behind Tsukishima, afraid of being left behind because he hadn't made first string.  He wasn't a starter, the only first year that wasn't a starter.  He was desperate to perfect his skills, hitting balls until his palms and forearms were red and sore.  Anything to close the gap between him and Tsukishima because what was he going to do if the latter decided to leave him?  

 

And so he worried...  That was, until he got a hang of his jump float serve over break, and he was being brought out to play in more games.  His confidence grew, and in turn, Tsukishima's pride in him as his best friend - though he may not have shown it very often.  Finally, Yamaguchi was content with his place beside Tsukishima, feeling as though he'd finally earned his place.

 

Time passed.  Second year rolled around, and this time it was Tsukishima who felt the falter.  The sudden trip between the two of them as he observed the first years flocking to Yamaguchi after a practice match that allowed for the latter to demonstrate his perfected serve.  Four or five of the kouhai were chatting animatedly with Yamaguchi, who in turn smiled back with the strength of a thousand constellations.  A tug in Tsukishima's chest alerted him to the fact that something was amiss, though he wasn't sure just what.  That night, he discovered just what it was after toiling over it before he went to bed.

 

He'd been afraid that Yamaguchi was going to taken from him.  But that morning when he'd come downstairs to see Yamaguchi chatting with wide eyes and gesturing arms to his mother...  When he'd come downstairs to see Yamaguchi stop mid sentence and shoot him a cheery greeting...  His shuddering heart relaxed, the scowl settled.  Yamaguchi wasn't going anywhere, nor was he being taken by anyone if he chose to come back every single time.

 

By their third year.  No, right now.  By now, Tsukishima's glare had softened.  His biting words and snide remarks dulled in favor of his rediscovered passion for volleyball.  Any initial fear this year's freshmen had of him were quelled when he slipped into his role of senpai, though he was still regarded as one of the "untouchable" upperclassman.  Yamaguchi, on the other hand, was vice-captain and a guiding hand almost reminiscent of Sugawara in terms of his relationship to the kouhai.  He was the calm to Hinata's exuberance, the one who set the pace for the team and whom everyone could rely on.

 

Tsukishima was leaning against the wall, Yamaguchi laughing a little breathlessly as the cool evening breeze whispered against their victory heated skin.  They were older now, more mature.  Their bodies having filled out accordingly, with lanky legs now muscled and arms defined.  Tsukishima's hair was a little more wild now, having grown it out a little from his old close-cropped style of his earlier years.  A new pair of headphones, colored orange and black (a gift from the entire team for his birthday - everyone had chipped in a bit) hung around his neck.  Yamaguchi, on the other hand, had grown his hair out long - tied back in a short ponytail.  His skin had gotten a little tanner, freckles a little more pronounced.

 

They were talking quietly, discussing the game and other nothings when Tsukishima had leaned down and kissed the other.  He'd been admiring the freckles, likening them to stars and wondering if he'd be able to find constellations in them when he'd found he was hovering over Yamaguchi, just a breath away.  His heart leapt into his throat, mind questioning why he'd done that when Yamaguchi reached out, twining his fingers into Tsukishima's hair, and pulled him down a little more to kiss him deeper.

 

And then suddenly, that kink was gone.  Suddenly, Yamaguchi’s hands were in his blond curls and his hands were on Yamaguchi’s waist.  The kiss was soft and slow, gentle in a way Tsukishima only knew how to be around Yamaguchi but just that tiniest bit selfish Yamaguchi became around Tsukishima.  When they finally pulled apart, their foreheads pressed together and breaths mingling, Yamaguchi gave him a smile, lips red and cheeks tinted pink.

 

"I feel like..."  He breathed, "We should have done that years ago."

 

Tsukishima nodded, removing one of his hands from Yamaguchi's waist to place over the brunette's hand that was in turn still on his face.  Yamaguchi closed his eyes and pressed another, chaste kiss to Tsukishima's lips.  His heart was fluttering but it was like something had finally clicked into place.

 

No words had been needed.  It was like how they'd always been, what with how easy their relationship was.  One glance, a gentle touch, and that was all that was needed to be said.


	4. as good as new [I]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 4\. _In which Yamaguchi is old fashioned, but Tsukishima doesn't care. Soul Eater!AU, sort of._

Yamaguchi swallowed thickly, wringing his hands together.  The blond boy who stood before him was tall and lanky, eyes like molten gold but cold as the winter chill that bit through Yamaguchi's coat.  He stared down at the other, seemingly unimpressed.  Yamaguchi could hear the music pumping through the headphones resting on the other's shoulders.  This was his partner, now?

 

"H-hi...  My name is Yamaguchi.  Yamaguchi Tadashi!"  He stuttered, bowing stiffly, "W-w-what's your name?"

 

The other boy glared, rolling his eyes before he replied, "Tsukishima Kei."

 

"N-nice to meet-"

 

"Pathetic," The boy - Tsukishima - cut him off.  "What type of weapon are you?  Come."

 

Tsukishima held his hand out.  Yamaguchi nodded shyly, stepping forward.  He put his hand in the other’s as he morphed into the weapon, letting his human body go.

 

When he opened his eyes, Tsukishima was holding him firmly in his grip, testing out his weapon form's presence.  His weight, his form - those meticulous eyes checked everything.  Yamaguchi blushed under his scrutiny.

 

"A crossbow?"  Tsukishima hummed, although it came out more like a statement.  "Kind of outdated."

 

Yamaguchi flinched at the words.  He knew Tsukishima’d say that.

 

“But you’ll work.”

 

Yamaguchi brightened at that, asking before he could stop himself, “So you won’t ask for a partner transfer?”

 

Tsukishima stared at him like he was stupid, “As if I could do that.  We’re stuck together.”

 

 _Ow_.  Okay.  Yamaguchi wilted at the words, wondering if he should bring up the fact that _no, they weren’t stuck together at all_.  Tsukishima could ask for a transfer anytime, claim the chemistry wasn’t working - his hits are dull, he won’t fire when Tsukishima wants him to, etc.  Tsukishima could walk away and blame it all on Yamaguchi.

 

But then he felt something warm, lifting the darkness he’d shrouded himself in.  The warmth, what felt like a snug blanket wrapping itself around his soul, was trying to coax  _something_  out of him.  But what?

 

And then he heard Tsukishima speak, “That’s...surprising.  I’ll have to test this…”

 

Yamaguchi pouted, wondering if he should be worried.


	5. murder of crows [I]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 5\. _In which the world has ended, Yamaguchi is dying, and Tsukishima is desperate. Post-Apocalypse!AU_

“Tsukki…”  A rasp, “It hurts to breathe…”

 

Yamaguchi’s words are muffled through the scarf and against Tsukishima’s shoulder, but he hears them all the same.

 

 _Then stop breathing_ , he wants to quip but refrains from it, for fear of some higher power that might actually be listening.  Might make his words come true.  Before, though, he wouldn't have hesitated to say it.

 

So he just nods, says, “I know.  Just hang on a bit longer.”

 

He adjusts his grip on the other, thin and bony legs pressed close to his hips.  An equally frail frame rests against his back, thin arms hang over his shoulders, loosely wrapped around his neck.  He can't feel the other's body through all the layers, but knows that if he were to run his hand along Yamaguchi's torso, he could count the ribs.

 

He's not in any better shape.  Any morsel of food they find, Tsukishima offers to Yamaguchi.  Tries to have him eat it and keep it down.  Most of the time, it's a wasted effort.

 

He won't last much longer like this.  Not without help anyway.  They needed to reach a Safe Haven, walled cities, where Yamaguchi could be kept safe.  Where he could be kept inside, sheltered from the winds biting through their clothes like whips made of ice.  Where he could be kept fed and away from the Grievers haunting the waste plains.

 

Tsukishima lets out a breath, sees it puff up in white mist from how frigid the air is.  Wonders if Yamaguchi is cold at all, but dismisses the wandering thought as stupid.  Of course he's cold.  Who wouldn't be in this sunless hell?

 

A cough shakes the both of them.  Yamaguchi wheezes into the scarf, curling into himself at the painful coughs.  Tsukishima startles and tenses, holds still as he waits for Yamaguchi to calm down from his coughing fit.  The moment Yamaguchi quiets, Tsukishima’s legs carry them along the side of the road again.  If his pace seems a little faster, Yamaguchi doesn’t comment on it.  


	6. half human

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 6\. _In which Tsukishima begrudgingly works for the Cathedral...and picks up a stray. Demon hunter!AU_

Kei stares at the cliff, dropping off and down into nothingness.  Fog coils far below, shrouding what it is down there in a gray mystery.  An abandoned cathedral rises into the sky behind him, a skeleton of its former glory.  At the very edge of the cliff, a gravestone stands vigilance out of the thick carpet of snow, dusted in its own layer of ice.  Kei goes up to it, runs his gloved fingers over the dark stone and the name inscribed at the base of the broken angel with only one wing.  Her hands are raised up towards the sky, a serene smile on her face.

 

He sighs silently and turns away from the grave, sends a meaningless prayer out of habit to a god he knows doesn't exist.  As he saunters past the old cathedral, he wonders if there's a tune being whistled somewhere or if it's just the wind.  The moment he steps past the cathedral and into its shadow, however, he draws his gun and points it into the darkest crevice of the crumbling building.

 

"Come out," He orders, "Do as I say, and I might not shoot."

 

He waits a beat.  Two.  And then there's scuffling and the sound of nervous laughter bubbling up through the howling wind and snowfall.  A boy no older than Kei is materializes from the shadows, with messy brown-black hair and freckles peppering his face.  A tuft of hair sticks straight up on his head, even with the harshly blowing wind.  For a moment, he thinks the boy is cute.  That is, until he sees the horns curling off the sides of the boy's head, sees the leathery wings extending up from his back.  Finally sees the tail curling around the boy's leg.

 

"Don't shoot," The demon boy says, holding his hands up.

 

"Tell me why," Kei snaps back, and the boy shakes his head.

 

"Please don't..."  Kei finally sees the dark circles around the demon's eyes, the dark black blood staining the front of his shirt and the arrows sticking from his back.  "I'll be dead soon anyway..."

 

Kei stares.  He's never seen such a sorry excuse for a demon.  He lowers the gun, approaches the demon who scrambles back.  He only succeeds in falling and gasping, clutching at his wounds.

 

"Pathetic," Kei growls, standing over the demon.  "What's your name?"

 

The demon looks up at him, confused.  However he responds anyway, "M-my name is Tadashi...  Yamaguchi Tadashi."

 

A human name?  "No, your true name.  What is it?"

 

"I don't know..."

 

Bullshit.  Kei hardens his glare, but before he can say anything else, a shrill cry sounds behind him.  Spinning around, Kei turns cold eyes on the flickering shadows within the boundaries of the forest.  He sees the figures, fires all six rounds at them, and then turns his glare back on Yamaguchi.

 

"How do you-"

 

"Look out!"  Yamaguchi tackles him out of the way, only for a shard of ice - ice spirits, then, they're facing those who died violent deaths in the snow and ice of this mountain - to bloom from his chest.  A gasp resounds as Yamaguchi falls to the ground, black blood splattering over the white snow.  A jittery corpse of an ice spirit rises from the ground, its gnarled face blank in its vengeance.  Kei throws a knife in its direction, hears the satisfying whump as it hits the creature and the ice spirit dissolves.

 

Kei takes a moment to breathe, and then he's trudging over to Yamaguchi who's lying still.  His body hasn't dissolved yet, however.  He isn't dead yet.  Kei crouches down, checks for Yamaguchi's pulse and then lifts him.  He's light for all the wings and horns.  Incredibly light.

 

Carrying the demon back to the trail, Kei loads him into his truck and slams the door shut.  He sits up front, takes the wheel and glances back every few minutes to make sure he isn't carrying back a sack of sand.  Why he's helping Yamaguchi, Kei isn't sure.  Maybe because when he'd looked into his eyes, he'd seen something incredibly human in them.  More human than even Kei himself.

 

He pulls up to the inn at the base of the mountain.  He'd picked this because the inn is a series of little cabins, clustered around little packed dirt roads that lead back to the main building.  It's civilization, but there's privacy.  Kei unloads Yamaguchi from the truck, drags his body up into the cabin and dumps him rather unceremoniously onto one of the couches.

 

A jagged icicle protrudes from Yamaguchi's chest, his freckled skin pale and gaining an alarming tinge of gray.   Kei touches the ice, hisses at the burning cold and snatches his hand away.   Already, the skin around Yamaguchi's chest is a purplish blue.  Swearing under his breath, Kei picks up his blessed blade and wedges it into the ice shard, watches as the silver comes into contact with the cursed ice and makes it sizzle.  He pries the ice shard out of Yamaguchi's chest, causing the latter to gasp out in pain.   He tosses the shard to the side, sees it shatter and then freeze a part of the floor.  Clicking his tongue, Kei sets his blade down and reaches into one of his many pockets, producing a water bottle filled with holy water.  He uncaps it and pours a good amount on Yamaguchi's wound, and the sound of sizzling blots out the silence.

 

Yamaguchi's back arches off the couch, eyes flying open as he screams.  Kei stares on with disinterest as the flesh around the wound goes from purple, almost black, to blue to Yamaguchi's skin tone, and then an angry red.  It starts blistering, the water acting like acid and burning Yamaguchi's skin.  The demonic ice had melted away in the wound, replaced with peeling flesh that's stitching itself back together already.  Kei jerks the water bottle away from Yamaguchi, who's gasping and tearing now instead of screaming.  He's thrashing, but Kei has his free hand pinning the other down.  But now that there's no more holy water cascading down onto his shoulder, Yamaguchi collapses back against the couch.  Kei flicks his eyes to the frozen section on the floor briefly, flings some holy water onto that as well, before returning his attention back to Yamaguchi.

 

Yamaguchi has his eyes closed, breathing heavily.  No doubt he's unconscious from the exertion.  Standing up, Kei rifles around in a closet for an extra quilt which he throws over the demon.  He's been in autopilot the entire way back, but it's only when he's standing under the hot blast of the shower does he realize what he's done.  He'd disobeyed orders to go to the cliff side ruins again, that's no different, but this time he came back with a demon.  Even though he's a demon hunter.

  
Shit.  How's he going to explain himself to the Cathedral now?


	7. murder of crows [II]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 7\. _In which there's a silver lining, but at what cost? Post-Apocalypse!AU_

Tsukishima sees spires reaching into the slate gray sky in the distance - a silhouette of a promised land that he’d been following for days now - through his cracked glasses and he prays that they’ll make it.  Prays Yamaguchi won’t succumb to this cough.  Prays the metal bar tied and tucked in his belt will protect them from the Grievers for the nights to come until they reach the Safe Haven.

  


He especially prays that the Safe Haven will accept them, and if not the both of them then at least Yamaguchi.

  


But his prayers run out early.  It's night before he realizes it and he's scrambling to find safe ground.  He lays Yamaguchi down - gentle as can be - and settles down next to him.  He should start a fire, but they're in an abandoned town and this is where Grievers are thickest.  Tsukishima withdraws the rusted pipe he keeps at his hip, brandishes it like a sword.  He hopes it doesn't break tonight...and then the wailing starts.

  


Tsukishima tenses, keeps his eyes trained on the flickering shadows at the edges of his vision.  The wailing comes from the center of the town, and Tsukishima glances at Yamaguchi - unconscious and sleeping soundly despite the noise.  They're tucked away at the very outskirts, inside an abandoned school building.  Hopefully the Grievers won't smell them out, won't scent the blood on the inside of Yamaguchi's scarf wrapped around his mouth and neck.

  


He hears a hissing sound from below, tenses his muscles.  Tsukishima has a white knuckled grip on the rusted pipe.  The hissing sound is closer to the door now, and a scratching sound follows as he glances over his shoulder at Yamaguchi.  He sees the curled up form resting in the corner, and a spark of protectiveness shoots through him.

  


"Yamaguchi's not going to die to you bastards..."  He mutters under his breath, except the scratching's gone.  It's dead silent, and Tsukishima wearily shuffles towards the door to check.  When he opens the door, he's met with a child with hair as bright as the twilight sun and bright eyes that practically glow in the darkness.

  


Letting out an undignified yelp, Tsukishima trips backwards, pipe swinging out.  It would've caught the boy on the side of the head had a hand not blocked it.  The door creaks open a little more and reveals a tall, dark haired boy no older than Tsukishima with cold, slate gray eyes.

  


"Sugawara-san," The raven haired boy says, lifting his gaze to someone behind Tsukishima.  "What do we do?  They're not Grievers."

  


"Humans?  This far out?"  A third person joins the group in front of him, this one with white hair and warm eyes.  Tsukishima stands, eyes narrowing at the trio in front of him.

  


"Wah!" The shorty exclaims, to which the one with the murderous glare shushes with a smack in the back of the head.  After whining about 'that hurt Kageyama what the hell,' shorty turns his attention back to Tsukishima, "You're really tall and scary!"

  


"Hinata!"  It's white haired's turn to scold when Tsukishima hears it.

  


"Kei...?"   Followed by a series of coughs.  Tsukishima practically drops everything, feels his chest seize up at the sound of Yamaguchi's weak voice.  He only ever calls him by his first name when he's scared...and he probably hadn’t been able to see Tsukishima standing there, door obscuring him.

  


"I'm here, Tadashi, I'm here," He says, letting the pipe fall as he smooths his hand over Yamaguchi's face.  The latter smiles briefly, relief washing over his features before he succumbs to sleep again.  Tsukishima lets out a breath when a voice startles him again.

  


"He doesn't look like he's in good shape," Shorty - Hinata - comments unnecessarily.  Tsukishima shoots him an ugly glare, to which the one with the dark hair steps up with a glare of his own.

  


The white haired boy makes a noise, a sympathetic little sound that makes Tsukishima want to snap that they aren’t helpless, that he’s taken care of Yamaguchi fine by himself.  The words die in his throat, however, upon seeing the look in the white haired boy’s eyes.  Sugawara, if he remembers correctly.  He looks down at Yamaguchi, who’s since fallen asleep again.  He’d been running his fingers through the other boy’s hair without realizing.

  


“He doesn’t look good at all.”  Sugawara says, and then stands up, “Are you trying to make it to the Safe Haven?”

  


Tsukishima nods slowly, eyes narrowing, “Why?”

  


“We can help you,” He replies simply, “We have medicine, a healer.  Shelter.”

  


“But you’re not the haven.  You can’t promise me he’s going to be safe,”  Tsukishima states, narrowed eyes turning into a glare.  What’s in it for them?  Even the dark haired guy looks ready to protest, although Hinata is standing off to the side with wide eyes.

  


“Well,” Sugawara pauses, lifting his gaze from Yamaguchi to meet Tsukishima’s.  A warm smile greets his line of sight, and he’s almost taken aback, “We do have free rein entering and leaving the haven.”

  


It takes everything in his power not to leap to his feet and demand what he needs to do for that to happen.  Instead, he inhales slowly and then lets out the breath.

  


“What’s in it for you?”  He’s surprised how calm he manages to sound.

  
“It’s simple!”  Sugawara stands up and goes to pick up the iron bar Tsukishima had dropped earlier.  He hands it to him, “Come work for the crows of Karasuno.”


	8. the nymph & the messenger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 8\. _In which Yamaguchi and Tsukishima don't believe in star-crossed love...until they find it themselves. Royals/Fantasy/Soulmates!AU_

“Crown Prince Akiteru and Prince Tsukishima are coming out into town today.  I heard they’re really handsome!”

 

“You know the entire royal family has gold hair and eyes?  It’s like they really are the descendants of the moon god.”

 

“Really?  Ah...Prince Tsukishima’s the same age as my daughter.  Maybe...”

 

"Who knows, we're celebrating a love festival after all!"

 

Ears perking, Tadashi tilts his head towards the women gossiping just a few booths down from him, standing to wipe sweat off his brow.  He lifts his gaze, straying to watch them bustling about before he looks a little further up, past the main streets to the sunset-illuminated palace cresting the hill upon the horizon.

 

“Yamaguchi!”  Yachi hisses, pouting.

 

Tadashi’s attention snaps back to her, eyes widening when he realizes the bundles of herbs he’d been stacking have started rolling off the side of the table.

 

“S-sorry!”  He stutters, hurriedly fixing the display.  Yachi groans playfully, rolling her eyes as she sets out a handful of potions, turning them so the labels are facing out.

 

“Focus, Yamaguchi!  We’re lucky we managed to get within the city limits this year,” She says, grinning brightly despite her earlier exasperation.  She reaches into another crate and removes several charms of stained glass and etched metal, strings them up to hang across the top of the stall.  “Everyone's so excited."

 

"Why wouldn't they be?" Tadashi's smile is small, just a tiny grin as he blushes lightly, "It’s the festival of the star crossed lovers.  It's romantic.”  Pointing to the mountain opposite from the palace, he continues, “That’s where a star will touch the tip of that mountain, or...as the legend goes, where one of the moon god’s messengers met the mountain nymph and they fell in love.”

 

Yachi smiles back at him, lighting a handful of small lanterns to hang around their stall, “Too bad the messenger wasn’t able to deliver the message, or he would've had a happy ending with the nymph.  At least they get to spend time together, even for just a little bit each year though, right?”

 

Tadashi nods, staring wistfully up at the mountain.  The sun’s going to set soon, and before long, the stars will begin appearing.  Which means the royal family’s procession would begin soon as well, making their way across the imperial city from their palace to the easternmost gate which faces the mountain.  From there, the lantern lighting ceremony would begin, where a path leading to the very top of the mountain would be illuminated by lanterns made by the entire city.

 

After the formalities, however, it’ll be a week of everyone enjoying themselves.  Head back, sniffing the air, Tadashi could already smell the sweet aromas of one of the dessert stands cooking their fare further up the road, permeating the thick summertime air.  Sake’s going to be flowing like the heavenly river over their heads, too.  Reaching into the potions crate again, Tadashi set out a handful of their tonics.  Heavy drinkers will be thanking Yachi in the morning for her hangover remedy.

 

“A week of festivities,” Yachi sighs, dabbing at her neck with the hem of her apron.  Tadashi tilts his head at her, to which she lets out a soft laugh, “I hope our supplies last.”

 

“Wouldn’t it be good if we sold out early though?”  He asks, looking around at what they brought.  It isn’t a lot, but it’s still practically their entire stock from their store back home.

 

“It would, but I’d rather work,” She looks around at the other stalls, eyes lingering for a beat longer on one where a motherly looking woman is selling rather cute hair accessories.  Tadashi makes a note to see if he can trade one of their items for a new hair ribbon for Yachi, but otherwise turns his attention back to their own stall.  Yachi does the same, pressing her lips into a line as she continues fussing over the organization of the potions and herb bundles.

 

Tadashi slips behind the tables, under the awning and sits down on a stool, gaze wandering.  They’ve only ever been able to attend the festival as merchants once before, and even then it’d been impossible to get within the city limits to set up their stall.  It hadn’t been much concern on either of their parts, considering the fact that they still made plenty of money that year, catching traffic leaving the city.  Now that they’re here, Tadashi can’t help but wonder how much he’d missed the first time.

 

Where the open sky facing the sea rather than the mountain had been their backdrop, with fading lanterns and the distant roar of the festival accompanying them their first time, now they’re in the throes of it.  Colorful stalls swamp the streets between the closely packed houses, creating a patchwork of bright colors bordered by the bleached white buildings on either side.  Paved roads, lined with warm hued bricks steadily line the roads, connecting all the way up at the top of the hill to the castle.  Tadashi lets his gaze roam further up the streets, to other booths and along the sides of the buildings, their windows lined with planters that have flowers peering out over the festivities.  Lines of charmed lights zig-zag down the street over his head, holding lanterns shaped like stars in various colors.

 

“Can you organize the boxes down there?”  Yachi calls from wherever she’s hunched over the display.  Tadashi looks down, sees that one of the crates of charms had fallen over, and as he leans down to right it, he scoops up a handful of the ones that had fallen out.

 

“Ouch,” He drops the bundle into the crate, pulling the charm wrapped around his finger off and inspecting the cut.  Not deep, not even bleeding that much.  Placing his finger in his mouth and sucking on the wound, he turns his eyes on the charm that had cut him.

 

It’s a piece he remembers Yachi working on a few weeks ago.  A stained glass in the shape of the mountain, dyed a deep purple with the star dyed lavender.  It’s the eternal love charm she’d made, engraving love and happiness and good fortune into its every detail.  Some would call it a good omen for what’s to come, getting cut by a charm meant for an eternity.  But those people are the ones still crying over “fated love” and “soulmates.”  Lips jutting out in a slight pout, Tadashi cleans it off and drops it back into the box.

 

A romantic notion, but everlasting love just doesn't work for someone like him, who blends into the night sky as easily as a shadow.

 

~*~

 

“Must I?”  Kei stares at his reflection, eyebrows pulled down in a disdainful glare.  Sugawara shakes his head behind him, arms crossed and studying the clothes Kei is wearing.

 

“It’s the biggest festival in the kingdom,” The advisor begins, but Kei holds up a hand, closing his eyes with a sigh.

 

“No.  Don’t start,” He says and steps away from the mirror.  He reaches for his coat and pulls it on, buttoning it up before heading for the hall.  Stopping at the door, he turns and stares at Sugawara pointedly, who just shrugs and steps through it, pausing just in time to wait for Kei.

 

Kei follows him all the way out, resigned to the role he must play in this silly tradition.  Star crossed love?  Just how delusional are the people to believe in such a thing?  Akiteru does, that much he knows.  His parents too, to a certain degree.  Even Sugawara.  Kei sighs inwardly.  Everyone’s a fool for love stories, so he really shouldn’t be feeling bothered by this at all, but he can’t help the gnawing irritation that comes with it.  It doesn’t help that he’s basically being forced against his will to make a public appearance, which warrants these stifling layers of clothing in this gods-forsaken heat, riding an overly decorated carriage for the masses to see.

 

If it was up to him, he’d be sitting at home with a good book and the dwindling candlelight for company.  Instead, however, Kei finds himself trudging down the halls, Sugawara just a step behind him, only ceasing to follow him once he glares at the open carriage his parents are already sitting in.  Adjusting his glasses, Kei sighs for the umpteenth time that night and drags his unwilling body up to the seat across from his parents, sparing Sugawara only a glance.

 

“Have fun,” He says, and Kei inwardly groans.  He isn’t going to have fun.  Unless he could slouch down onto the floor of the carriage, away from people’s curious gazes, and bury his nose in a book on music theory.  Unfortunately, he highly doubts his parents would allow such a thing.  He is the youngest prince of the royal family, after all.  Expectations are required of him, as it was just part of his birthright.

 

“I’ll be back by midnight,” Kei grumbles as he props an arm up on the side of the carriage.  He leans his head against it, chin in hand as Sugawara shoots him a bright smile.

 

“Of course,” Sugawara says, “When all the rituals end.  You should be out enjoying yourself, but I’ll just stop there…”  Eyebrows raised high, hands up in mock surrender, Sugawara pivots on his heel and walks back to the palace just as Akiteru comes scrambling out, pulling his uniform jacket on.

 

Huffing and panting, Akiteru throws himself into the seat beside Kei, adjusting the buttons and pins just as a sharp cry splits the air.  The horses jolted from their stupor and trotted forth, along the paved roads which caused the carriage to wobble whenever the wheels rolled over a particularly uneven patch.  Resting his elbow atop the window sill, Kei places his chin in his hand and stares on as the grandeur of the inner city gave way to the more quaint looking architecture of the business and homes.

 

Mansions with dozens of windows and winding gardens, gated off from the world in a bubble of luxury gave way to brick and white spackle buildings pressed tight together, hugging each other until they soon just became strips of houses on either side down the street.  Those dozens of windows became a row of them, gates turned into storefronts.  Elaborate gardens became the occasional flower pot with leaves poking out from the tops.  The raised brick along the sides of the street are filled with people, and the farther along the carriage rumbles, the more stalls and booths Kei sees.  White noise rises up in a roar around him, with merchants crying out prices and laughter circulates.  Cheers gush in from the outside as the carriage rolls around the bend into the thicket of the festival, where the stalls and booths crowd the main street.

 

A sigh escapes his lips as he turns away from the festivities.  His parents are smiling serenely out the windows of the carriage, waving to their people.  He glances outside one last time, catching sight of the guards pushing people back and away from their parade, before he leans back and lets Akiteru wave excitedly at those out on the streets.  Shrieks rise up from what he can only assume are girls.

 

“Smile more, Kei,” Akiteru says through a smile, shooting him a brief frown.  Kei can only shrug, rolling his eyes and shuffling away from the window.

 

“You can do that for the both of us,” He replies, crossing his arms and settling for a long night when there’s suddenly a commotion outside.  One of the horses lets out a whinny, and the carriage comes to an abrupt stop.  Akiteru somehow manages to fall over just as Kei braces himself on the railing attached to the inside of the door.  Gasps rise from the crowd outside, and for a heartbeat, the world freezes.

 

~*~

 

He’d turned around for a _second_.  Not even a second!  More like half a second.  How is he going to explain this to Yachi?  No, he isn’t going to explain anything, because the moment he catches that thief, he’s going to make _him_ explain everything to Yachi.  All he could do the moment he heard the tell tale jingling of a very heavy pouch of coins being stolen was throw a sign up that said he’d be back in a second and chase after the thief.

 

Of course, he’s so caught up in catching this thief he doesn’t see the guards shoving people off the dip in the cobblestone where the carriages pass through.  He doesn’t see the wall of them, with the royal crest emblazoned across their chest plates standing in a line to make a neat path through the hoards of festival attendees.  All he sees is an orange mop of hair with their night’s earnings getting farther and farther away.  He faintly hears someone screaming in a harsh voice, but he doesn’t pay any attention to it.

 

He doesn’t see the carriage, or the horses, until he’s practically under their hooves.  What finally catches his attention is the force of running straight into a horse.  Tadashi falls to the ground to the gasps of those around him, and when he finally realizes just where he is, all he can do is look up to see two powerful and hooved legs coming down on him.

 

~*~

 

“What happened?”  His father calls.

 

“A street urchin just ran out into the middle of the path,” A guard reports, approaching the window.

 

Who in the twelve realms just made this night even longer?  With a growl, Kei rises from his seat and throws open the carriage door, the protests from the guards and his brother falling on deaf ears as he storms out to the front of the carriage where the horses are being calmed down by the coachman.

 

Dazed, but otherwise unharmed, a boy the same age as Kei is being dragged to the side of the road by two guards.  The frustration and impatience bubbling to the surface dies when he finally takes in the person before him, about the same time the other regains his senses and promptly bursts into tears.

 

“Let go,” The other boy is demanding, wiping tears from his face as he stares into the crowd on the other side of the street.  He’s searching for something, and Kei glances towards that direction to see what has the other’s attention, but there’s nothing out of the ordinary.  “He’s going to get away…”  Aside from that brief glance away, however, Kei finds he can’t take his eyes off the other.

 

From an objective standpoint, the stranger sitting slumped and defeated before him is nothing remarkable to look at.  Plain brown hair with a strange tuft standing straight up off the top of his head, freckles dusting his cheeks with skin darkened by exposure to the sun, and a slender build that Kei knows can be both graceful and powerful all at the same time.  From his viewpoint, Kei sees the stranger’s brown hair and sees all the earthy tones it contains, like a dappled forest floor in summer.  The freckles are constellations, his skin the velvet sky, and Kei has to bite his tongue lest he think anymore cheesy descriptions to compare this virtual stranger with.

 

“Release him,” Kei orders as the guards reach for him again.  They all falter, ready to voice their protests, but Kei only darkens his glare.

 

“U-understood, Your Highness,” The guard bows stiffly and backs away.  Kei watches him go before he approaches the distraught boy before him.

 

He pauses beside the boy, clicking his tongue at the sight before him.  Some insane part of him wants to wipe away those tears, but another part demands the other’s attention.

  
“State your name,” He orders...requests.  His tone is much too soft to be considered a demand.  At the address being issued directly to him, the boy finally turns his gaze upwards at Kei, and in that moment, the prince swears he forgot to breathe.  In this retelling of the tale of the nymph and the messenger, perhaps Kei is the messenger who has just found his nymph.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I intended for this to be a bit longer, but ran out of ideas/lost the rhythm when school started up again. Thought it'd be better to post something, rather than nothing, so here is my failed attempt at a soulmates/star-crossed love!AU.
> 
> On another note, I've also been working on a full length one/two-shot for _murder of crows_ since everyone seems so interested in it...and I really hope I don't disappoint. orz


	9. home sweet home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 9\. _In which Tsukishima lives the high life, but never forgets that Yamaguchi is home. Rockstar!AU_

Letting out a breath, Yamaguchi tugs his cap down lower over his face, shifting from foot to foot.  He clutches the bag of food tighter to his chest, the warmth and greasy scent of fried chicken permeating his senses.  The screams and cheers from the front of the theatre reach a fever pitch, welling up.  No doubt the celebrities performing here tonight have just arrived.

 

Yamaguchi shifts uneasily as the sounds on the other side of the heavy door increase, though it’s almost drowned out by the cheering.  Just when he’s about to try calling the number that ordered the food, the door pops open to reveal a tall man about his age with unkempt dark hair.  Hooded eyes glance him up and down, a smirk pulling at his lips.

 

“Oho?  So this is what we were rushing for,” He says, and Yamaguchi ducks his head in an awkward bow.

 

“H-hello Kuroo-san,” A blush paints his cheeks as the man steps back.  He gestures for Yamaguchi to follow him in, and Yamaguchi does as he’s told.  He’s led through several passageways of hair stylists, managers, security - almost everyone who’s put time and effort into making this tour a reality - scurrying back and forth.  There’s some yelling and shouting, a crash.  More shouting, but this time with some obscenities thrown in.

 

“You know how hard Tsukki was fighting to get this town in the tour?” Kuroo asks, lazily guiding Yamaguchi through the somehow organized chaos.  They make it to a dressing room, labeled _THE FAMILIARS_  in a messy, Sharpie scrawl across a piece of duct tape.  He raises an eyebrow at that, but doesn’t question it.  That’s just how they’ve always worked, even if there was a perfectly  functioning plaque right next to the door.

 

Just as Yamaguchi is about to knock, however, the door is flung open.  In the doorway stands Tsukishima, just as Yamaguchi remembers him.  Kuroo plucks the bag of fried chicken from Yamaguchi’s hands, calls for Bokuto and Akaashi to come help fine tune some of their instruments.  As they leave, Tsukishima grabs Yamaguchi by the arm and tugs him into the dressing room, kicking the door shut behind them.

 

He barks at a manager to keep anyone from disturbing them.  With the door slammed shut, Tsukishima shoves Yamaguchi against the door and kisses him until he sees stars.  Lips press together once more, teeth nipping.  A hand tugs at his shirt and it takes every ounce of willpower in Yamaguchi’s body to push those hands away, to force Tsukishima back for just a moment for the two of them to breathe.

 

“W-wait, you have a show…”  Yamaguchi pants as Tsukishima presses their foreheads together, “And I still have to work the late shift.”  He looks up into those gold eyes, feels the hands trailing down his sides to rest on his hips.

 

“We’ve got one night,” Tsukishima says instead, inhales softly and then pulls himself away from Yamaguchi.  “Will you stay for the first song at least?”

 

“Of course,” Yamaguchi replies, and he feels the taller of them drop his forehead onto Yamaguchi’s shoulder.  Carding fingers through blonde strands - it’s gotten longer, Yamaguchi notes to himself - he hums softly.  “I’m proud of you though.  If you’d just stayed here, that kid with the headphones on all the time listening to his own tracks would’ve never gotten the recognition he deserves.”

 

Tsukishima grunts, sighing, “If I’d stayed here, we wouldn’t have to sneak around like this.  And we’d have more time together.  It’s not the same without you around.”

 

A knock on the door and a muffled voice that sounds a lot like Kuroo calls for Tsukishima out in the hall.  The show’s starting soon.  He feels a slight tug in his chest, a touch of disappointment lacing itself through his heart.  Yamaguchi wraps his arms around Tsukishima’s shoulders, pressing a kiss to the side of his head.

  
“Then don’t forget that when it gets to be too much, you can always come home, Tsukki.  I’ll be here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An idea that's been nagging at the back of my head for a week now. ALSO. Can I just, share this headcanon for this AU I have going on here? 'Cause I was talking about it with my friend (wherein I basically texted her and was like, "I HAVE BEEN SITTING HERE FOR AN HOUR AND A HALF AND I CAN'T COME UP WITH A BETTER BAND NAME THEN FAMILIARS").
> 
> Said band name is basically derived from the idea of witches' familiars, usually being crows, cats, and/or owls. Which was given to them as a bullshit answer by Kenma, 'cause Kuroo kept pestering him while he was trying to play a video game. That involved witches. So. "Familiars." Thaat, and Shining Tsukki/Harry Potter things. 8D;;


	10. star map

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 10\. _In which Tsukishima must navigate the stars. Sky Pirate!AU_

As of this moment, Tsukishima has a plate full of problems, and Kuroo’s woes about not being able to see his “cat” aren't one of them. At least, he's trying to make sure it isn't one of his problems.

 

“Kenma’s going to miss me,” Kuroo laments, and it takes all of Tsukishima’s willpower not to kick his captain over the railing of their ship. He shoves the fossilized fern across the sheet of parchment, leans down to study the air currents sketched into the map before him. Kuroo leans heavily on his left shoulder, moaning still about how their being lost meant longer time spent away from his “dear kitten.”

 

“Kuroo,” Tsukishima grits out, “If you want to see Kenma so badly, then let me do my damn job.”

 

It isn't the first time they've been lost, set adrift in the wind currents of the skies. Especially after storms that send them miles off course. He sighs heavily and rubs at his eyes, removing his spectacles. As the navigator, he should know exactly where they are, but the stars have been hidden since that squall a few days prior.

 

“It's such a shame we’re going to miss that imperial cargo ship,” Kuroo continues, as if Tsukishima’s aggravation isn't rolling off of him in waves now, “So much loot just slipping through our fingers. That much imperial gold would have paid for lots of toys for my kitten.”

 

Some days, Tsukishima wants to punch the smirk off his captain. Other days, he wants to strangle it off. Most days, however, he can only try to ignore that toothy lilt.

 

“Why don't you go check on our guest?” Tsukishima suggests, instead, turning a sharp glare on his captain, “I'm sure Akaashi could use a hand.”   _Unless Bokuto is already down there, instead of up in the Crow’s Nest like he should be._

 

Kuroo just shrugs, “Not interested. Akaashi says he has a map of stars on his skin, our little castaway. Maybe you'd be more interested.”

 

Tsukishima raises an eyebrow at that, but neutralizes his face into an impassive expression, “Are you sure that isn't poetic talk for freckles?”

 

“Not according to Akaashi. I say you check him out.”

 

He huffs in reply, to which Kuroo merely chuckles and stands, ducks out of the tiny room Tsukishima occupies to head back out on deck.

 

“It can't hurt,” Kuroo says with in a sing-song, “Besides. What if he's a Fallen Star like Bokuto said? He’ll help with our predicament.”

 

Tsukishima grunts his reply, turns back to the maps and promptly ignores his captain. Such a suggestion is preposterous. Those beings only exist in legend and myth, no resort where they reside. It isn't until the footsteps fade that his mind echoes Kuroo’s words.

 

_It can't hurt._ He sighs heavily, pinches the bridge of his nose and shoves the papers back into his drawers. He rolls up the largest map and tucks it inside of his coat jacket. Readjusting his glasses, Tsukishima stands and heads out, taking steps further into the ship where he knows the infirmary is.

 

Just a few days ago, in the midst of the storm, Bokuto had spotted something peculiar. A glowing spectacle, akin to a falling star, dropped from the aether far above them. With his sharp eyes, he'd said it was a person and Kuroo whipped the crew into a frenzy, flying the ship right to where their paths would intersect.

 

A red flush paints Tsukishima’s cheeks as he recalls that night. In the midst of a harsh storm and seeming chaos, with ice cold rain beating down on their backs and a moonless night casting darkness all around… The crew of the Stratus caught themselves a castaway. A young man no older than Tsukishima himself with long hair and sun-kissed skin. He had freckles, which were glowing, as if the stars themselves had left their home in the skies and blessed him with this ethereal beauty.

 

As their navigator, Tsukishima spent a lot of time looking at the stars, not just to discern their location but admiring them as well. And in that moment, Tsukishima thought he could've spent forever staring at the mysterious addition to the crew.

 

But that was days ago, and Tsukishima thinks he at least has enough composure to see this stranger again up close.  Are those really stars on his skin? Who is he? They'd all been in a frenzy that night, after Akaashi had taken him away to the infirmary.

 

_Who is he?_

 

_Did he come from a ship?_

 

_What ship’s flying higher than this? That high of an altitude would kill a normal person._

 

_Where'd he come from if not a ship?_

 

_What if...he's a Fallen Star?_

 

Tsukishima pauses in front of the door, stares at the the flickering candlelight from beneath the door and contemplates whether or not he should go through with this. It isn't what he's used to doing, associating with strangers.

 

Sighing inwardly, Tsukishima reaches out to knock softly on the door, only to miss when it's pulled open and a wide-eyed Akaashi stands in the doorway.

 

“Akaashi…?” Tsukishima trails off when he sees their fallen star sitting up behind him, staring out the porthole.

 

“He's awake,” Akaashi replies quietly, and then disappears down the hallway to get Kuroo, probably.

 

Tsukishima watches him go, inhales quietly, and then steps into the infirmary, closing the door behind him. The "fallen star" looks over at him at the sound of the door closing and blinks curiously at him. Tsukishima isn't used to this, speaking to mysterious strangers. That's what Kuroo and Bokuto are for, but something about this freckled stranger just compels him to speak.  The stranger, however, beats him to it.

 

“Where am I?”

 

Tsukishima stiffens, but shakes himself out of the stupor. Coughing into a gloved hand, he averts his gaze and replies, “The Stratus. You're on an airship bound for the Northern Lights.”

 

“You're going the wrong way then,” The stranger says quietly.

 

“Obviously,” Tsukishima snaps, “That storm blew us off course, and I can't see the stars so I don't know where we’re going anyway.” He doesn't even know which direction their drifting.

 

“You're going southeast,” The stranger replies, “The...the stars to my left should be on the right.”

 

He stares. That's all Tsukishima can really do. The young man before him trains his gaze on him, confusion clearly in the set of his lips but his eyes are clear. Skies and heavens, even his eyes look like starlight.

 

“How do you know?” Tsukishima asks, “How can you possibly know when you can't even see the sky?”

 

“I just...know?” The stranger drops his gaze to his hands, stares at them for a long while. Tsukishima keeps his eyes locked on the stranger, scrutinizing his every movement when he sees it. Seemingly random dots that make up so much more, and he'd be damned if he didn't know the exact position the stars had in relation to each other.

 

Crossing the threshold of the room, Tsukishima reaches out. There, on the stranger's right cheek. A constellation of the Crow. He reaches out with both hands, cupping the stranger’s face in his hands as he scrutinizes every dot and speck on his face. Just below the Crow is the Cat, and to the left the Owl. The Crown curls over the stranger’s left cheekbone, and just beside it is the Eagle. Without realizing, he's tracing the constellations, and in his mind’s eye, he can see his star map laid out before him.

 

“E-excuse me?” The stranger calls and Tsukishima snaps out of it, pulling his hands away from the stranger. His cheeks are alight with a golden glow, the stars Tsukishima traced glittering with lines connecting them to show the very constellations he drew out.

 

_He’s blushing_ , Tsukishima thinks dumbly, but shakes the thought and his own oncoming blush away.

 

“Who are you?” He inquires instead.

 

The stranger just shakes his head helplessly, a sheepish smile lighting his features and even more stars upon his skin aglow. “Honestly? All I can remember is that my name is Tadashi.”

 

Tsukishima nods, filing that information away. No doubt Akaashi will figure out what's exactly wrong with him when he comes back, but for now. He isn't a fan of asking for help, but if Tadashi is right about the stars, then Tsukishima quite frankly doesn't care where or how or what he is. Some part of him, a distant childhood memory, even goes as far as to call Tadashi and an actual Fallen Star.

 

“My name is Tsukishima. Tsukishima Kei. And until you regain your memory, could I ask your help to navigate these stars?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So "Fallen Stars" are like...the "mermaids" in a fic where they sail the seven skies, not the seven seas. 
> 
>  
> 
> Debated whether or not Yama would have wings, and say he'd lost them somehow. I'll revisit this one when I'm not working on it on my phone and when I'm not completely frazzled by school.


	11. agastopia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 11\. _In which they're third years, and both Tsukishima and Yamaguchi celebrate a sweet victory. A HQ Timeskip Fic._

It's the night after their semifinal match, and they're still high off the sweet sensation of victory. The aches in their bones, the breathless exhilaration that has yet to give way to exhaustion - it's still thrumming like electricity through their veins. Both him and Kei had fallen asleep on the bus ride home, but the moment they'd stumbled into Tadashi’s bedroom, there had been nothing burst of energy, nothing to stop the roaming hands.

 

Blame the adrenaline, but the shower had been an excuse to get their hands on each other, both their cheeks flushed from more than the steam circulating around them. They never made it into their clothes before Kei pushed Tadashi onto the bed, and the two of them ended up tangled in the sheets and each other well into the night.

 

It's morning now, just barely past dawn, with pale light filtering in from between the cracks of the curtain. There's a firm chest pressed to Tadashi’s back, a strong arm curled around his bare waist. The warm sheets lay low on his hips, just enough to be teasing.

 

A sigh tickles the back of Tadashi’s neck, and Kei shifts. He whines sleepily, reaches out to pull Kei back into bed, but then he feels lips against his hip, kissing each and every one of the crows there. A single kiss, two… There are twelve, arching up, over his hip - swooping from the crease between his abdomen and outer thigh, skirting his waistline, to take flight onto the plane of his back. The crows of Karasuno, he'd explained when Kei first saw them. To commemorate their starting members in their first year.

 

“Kei…” Tadashi murmurs, edging on a moan as he turns over. The lips disappear briefly, only to reappear - peppering butterfly kisses over his collarbone where the constellation tattoo is. This one he knows Kei especially loves, if only because Tadashi had taken something he'd been so insecure about and turned it into art. Hands on his hips now, Kei joins their lips and kisses Tadashi, all tongue and lip nibbles as dawn stretches into morning. Languidly, Tadashi loops his arms around Kei’s neck, threads his fingers through the blond strands.

 

It isn't until they're both running out of air do they break apart, to which Tadashi laughs breathlessly, “The team’s probably in the gym practicing by now.”

 

“Let them,” Kei replies simply, settling between Tadashi’s legs, arms almost cradling Tadashi on the sides.

 

“As the captain, I should be there too,” He counters, but Kei shakes his head, the morning light turning his usual pale blond to gold. For a second, Tadashi’s a little lost in that - the gold. Gold halo, gold eyes dark with a little something akin to desire. “I should set the example.”

 

“I doubt Tobio is there right now,” Kei sighs, “Shouyou was bouncing off the walls yesterday, and they wouldn't have spent the night without each other.” He presses another lazy kiss to Tadashi’s jaw, sliding his hands up to comb his fingers through the long brunet hair.

 

“Kei,” Tadashi protests, and Kei shakes his head. Kisses him again.

 

“The first and second years should know by now,” Kei says, pushing himself up so that he had Tadashi trapped between his arms and he was hovering over the other, “After a victory, the third years are always a little late.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Or, in which I can't decide on a friggin' chapter title.
> 
>  
> 
> I HAD to write this after doing that hermit thing where I shut myself my room and browse this entire tag of just pure adorableness and perfection. This future-fic is based entirely on/inspired by-what have you- [emuyh's HQ Timeskip!verse](http://emuyh-art.tumblr.com/tagged/hq-timeskip).
> 
> IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET, GO CHECK IT OUT. THE THIRD YEAR!FIRST YEARS (that makes no sense) ARE ALL GLORIOUS. Also, Mamaguchi and Kagepapa give me life. ;u;


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